No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 130: | Line 130: | ||
In a more advanced practice of prostration, one can mentally multiply one’s body into countless numbers and make prostrations to buddhas in all directions. The highest form of prostration is said to be the practice of making prostration with no fixed concept or notion of the subject making the prostration, the object to whom the prostration is made, and the actual action of prostration. Everything is seen as an illusory flux with no self-existence, like a dream. | In a more advanced practice of prostration, one can mentally multiply one’s body into countless numbers and make prostrations to buddhas in all directions. The highest form of prostration is said to be the practice of making prostration with no fixed concept or notion of the subject making the prostration, the object to whom the prostration is made, and the actual action of prostration. Everything is seen as an illusory flux with no self-existence, like a dream. | ||
<h5>2. Offering</h5> | |||
Prostration is followed by the practice of offerings. One can set up an array of offerings of actual things one possesses, including food, drinks, flowers, incense, etc. One can also make offerings of beautiful lands, waterfalls, streams, birds, flowers, jewels, riches, and other pleasant things which exist in the world but are not personally owned. In addition, one can make offerings of wonderful things through visualization, such as offerings of celestial showers or feasts to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The magnificent offerings, real or imaginary, can be further multiplied to fill the universe in all directions) | |||
A common all-inclusive offering is the offering of the ''maṇḍala'', or the universe with all the riches and pleasant objects in it. A practitioner visualizes the entire universe by making a hand gesture of it or by holding a replica of the world as presented in the ancient Indian cosmology. There are short and long versions of liturgies for making the maṇḍala offering. | |||
Śāntideva also provides verses to make the offering of one’s body, possessions, and virtues. He mentions these three sets of one’s possessions or belongings in both his works, ''The Compendium of Training'' and ''The Way of the Bodhisattva''. As main objects of attachment and the main cause of self-centricity and its corollary problems, Śāntideva emphatically encourages the aspiring bodhisattva to give them away for the sake of all sentient beings. The offering of one’s body, enjoyments, and virtues comprise the giving away of the most cherished physical and psychological properties. | |||
<h5>3. Confession</h5> | |||
Offering, which helps one accrue karmic merit, is followed by the practice of confession, which removes the karmic impurities that can obstruct the cultivation of the thought of awakening. Using various texts such as ''The Sūtra of Three Heaps'' (''Trīskhandhasūtra''), ''General Confessions'' (''Spyi bshags''), and verses from chapter 2 of ''The Way of the Bodhisattva'', one must confess and make amends for one's bodily, verbal, and mental wrongdoings, which include committing sinful actions or violating a precept one has promised to observe. | |||
The confession must possess the four characteristics known as the four powers to become effective: intense remorse, sincere restoration, remedial action, and reliable support. | |||
The purpose of this website is to provide a resource hub for trustworthy information for learning about and teaching Bodhicitta ("bodhichitta") and Śāntideva's ("Shantideva's") related texts. Unique content will be shared here and the site will act as a broker for other projects and authors that have already created quality materials, which we will curate for a wide range of audiences.
See General disclaimer for more information.